F type connectors, specified in the standard IEC 60169-24, have been used for decades for terrestrial, cable, and satellite TV installations. The F connector has become a popular coaxial cable connector due to its inexpensiveness, good impedance matching to 75Ω, and wide bandwidth usability. The male F connector body is typically crimped or compressed onto the exposed outer braid of the coaxial cable. Female F Type connectors have an external thread to which male connectors having a matching internally threaded connecting ring are connected by screwing.
In various TV installations, it is vital that the metal-to-metal contact resistance between the connector and the cable braiding is optimised and maintained over time for good contact resistance. Any degradation in overall contact resistance will result in increasing the transfer impedance and will degrade the screening effectiveness.
In light of the new 4G LTE wireless services, which operate within the CATV frequency spectrum, it has become imperative that cable interconnect assemblies, i.e. the coaxial cable with a connector attached, meet a very high screening effectiveness as a market requirement based on a CENELEC standard.
However, practically none of the current coaxial cable assemblies can maintain Class A++ shielding efficiency over time. It has turned out that while a cable interconnect assembly may meet the Class A++ requirements when manufactured, the coupling transfer function of the same assembly has degraded significantly after having been installed in a CATV network some time.
Consequently, there is a need for an improved arrangement for connecting a coaxial cable to a connector.